+
CONFIDENTIAL
British Embassy
PO Box 858
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Telephone (01) XRMIS
18 23 54
P Beckingham Esq
EAD
FCO
JEJ 243/7
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
INDE A
26 AUG 1986
ARCSIRY
Action inacti
po
+
For quickly What call for
S
4
Theval.
from Tum The val
更
2018
Your reference
Our reference
243/1
Date
20 August 1986
Dear Peter,
UNHCR : EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 6-16 OCTOBER 1986
1.
Would you please refer to your letter JEJ/243/2 of 4 August to David Beaumont about UNHCR activities?
2. I will answer the questions in the order raised by Mrs Wyeth (ODA) in her minute of 24 July.
Nature of Refugees
3. The refugees in western Ethiopia have come there to escape from the civil war in southern Sudan. Mr Fell (UNHCR) is convinced that the vast majority would return to Sudan if the situation there stabilised and most refugees view Ethiopia merely as a place of temporary refuge. The Ethiopian Government grant rights and facilities as far as they are available land, education etc, but are hampered by lack of cash and are therefore reliant on UNHCR to provide material welfare.
-
Needs of Refugees
4. UNHCR, in conjunction with the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) and the RRC, assess needs on the basis of how many refugees are registered in the camps at any one time, not on forecasts of new arrivals which more often than not turn out to be inaccurate. In addition to normal stocks of food, there is a buffer stock of some 8,000 MT at Itang, which is held in reserve for use, if necessary, during the rains (June- September) when roads are normally impassable.
5. The refugees have a Coordinating Committee of their own, consisting of a Chairman and 8 sub-committees dealing with specific topics eg, food, health. The Coordinating Committee holds meetings each month with the RRC and UNHCR during which the Coordinating Committee usually present shopping lists of their needs, eg. blankets, food. According to Mr Fell, Coordinating Committee has considerable influence.
the
CONFIDENTIAL
/6.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.